Green Silk, Black Satin
by Blackfire 18
Summary: Shego's past unveils a horrific discovery in the present. Talented, smart, powerful; Shego's assets have attracted more than one person to a greater cause, whether they have her permission to use her for their own ends or not.
1. The Nightmare

**Green Silk, Black Satin**

**Chapter 1: The Nightmare**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kim Possible or any of the characters there within, they're property of Disney.**

There was nothing but darkness.

A deep, silent depth of oblivion. It was an infinite that bore madness on noiseless wings, for no senses were of use here. The naked eye could not penetrate the obscurity, ears deafened by stillness, every breath a taxing chore.

There was only darkness.

And she was lost in it.

The black closed in on all sides and she fought, uselessly expending all of her energy to tear away the gloom as if it could be ripped away to reveal the colorful, sense-filled world—but her clawed fingers made contact with nothing but choking, heavy air. Panic forced bile into her throat. She had to escape! The air was getting heavier, her mind would not focus, every which way she turned looked the same as the last; or so she thought, it was impossible to tell. She was suffocating; she was on fire. She was dying.

Her wild eyes flickered in every direction until at last, she found it: A small light in the distance. The blank, weighted space around her seemed to fall away and she could breathe at last; her resolve affirmed in that glimmer of hope. She raced for it with every fiber of her being. Where her footsteps should have hammered her desperation, there was nothing but deathly silence. But the light steadily grew closer as it was constantly jarred in her sprinting sight.

Finally, she reached the light circle that beamed from somewhere above. She stumbled and fell onto the floor, landing hard on her knees as she gripped her arms by the elbows. She was seized by a horrible racking sob as tears slid from her green eyes.

She had been attacked while lost in the dark. Her clothes were in tatters and her lustrous raven hair was ragged and cut. Blood as black as her painted fingernails streaked her pale body, each a testament to her unseen encounters. As the horrible tears continued to stream down her face, her cheeks burned; they had been slashed among innumerable other such wounds. She did not know if the attacker stalked her out in the darkness still, or if she had done these injuries to herself.

Piercing green eyes glared up into the beam of light.

Why did this keep happening? What was the purpose of this torment? Why didn't she wake up?

The worst was yet to come.

Out of the darkness came ribbons of beautiful green and black sashes. They moved with the grace and charm of serpents and she was entranced. Something about them was familiar, but she could not ascertain why. The sobs and the tears ceased as her body slackened; muscles relaxing slightly in their esteemed presence. She rubbed at her moist eyes and rested her hands on the floor. The motion dizzied her and the ribbons circled, waiting. She knew they came to her out of love and comfort, and so she beckoned them to her with the subtlest of shifts in her posture. They responded.

The green was first to elegantly slide over her thigh, to curl around her bruised stomach once, twice, thrice around, ever moving upward—took a detour to wrap lovingly once around her right arm and finally to stroke her offended cheek with its softness. The feel of silk across her skin caused her to exhale a shuddering breath, a breath she came to realize she had been holding.

The black came next, snaking its way around one palm, it slipped around her torso to cover her heart and up still to caress her neck, fully circling it once to fall down her spine. Satin.

Still the ribbons glided and slid over her body in graceful arcs in a distinguished dance, urging her to rise so they might shield what yet remained uncovered. She stood. The green rolled over her left shoulder and coiled its way down her arm. The black weaved through her legs and coiled around her right leg from the height of her calf to her ankle. The green wrapped her waist, the black twined her fingers; the silk caught her forearm, the satin snared her wrist…

Then suddenly, the sashes yanked tight.

What had been a soft embrace became a death grip. Her arms were snapped to her sides, her thighs wrenched together, her chest crushed, her throat constricted. Her body was pulled in all directions by the ribbons—while her upper arm was being pulled in, her forearm yanked up and her wrist dragged down. The same went for all of her appendages, and all the while she was being suffocated, her cries muffled by the black satin that had once so lovingly brushed her lips. Her chest was compressed each time she exhaled; she could feel the pinch as she was wrung out like an old rag. Her throat crushed tighter and tighter. Bones cracked, skin tore, blood rushed to her head—a hideous scream ripped from her throat as the darkness collapsed the light around her.

* * *

Shego screamed and sat bolt upright into the darkness. But this black air she could breathe, smell, taste. She gulped down the refreshing cool air and tried to think.

Her surroundings came back to her in a rush. This was Drakken's lair; she was in her own room, on her own bed. Her sheets had become so entangled around her it was difficult to move. With an angry grunt, she tore herself free and kicked the linen off of the bed. She was sticky with sweat and the tangy taste of it mixed with the bitter salt of tears. She angrily wiped the discharge from her eyes.

Shego ran her hands over her face and through her hair, gripping it by the roots. This was the fifth night in a row that she had had this recurring nightmare. Night after sleepless night, she would jerk awake with a scream and discover the sweat and the tears that had perspired in the course of the night. Always in her dream, she would be trapped until…until she died. Shego heaved a sigh.

Damn, her throat was dry and her lips cracked. Shego reached over for the glass of water she had brought with her to bed, only to discover that the glass had fallen to the floor, its contents spilled all over the carpet. She swore to herself and, though she did not want to, looked at the little digital clock on her dresser. It read 2:19 a.m.

Shego rested her tired eyes into the palms of her hands. There was no way she was going to be able to fall back to sleep now—not after that nightmare.

At last, she decided to just stay up and stumbled out of bed, taking pieces of sheet with her. Shego could not stop the sigh of exasperation at the folly of another bed spread ripped to shreds during one of these night episodes. She would worry about the bed later; hopefully she could hide the evidence of her destruction before a hapless interloper stuck his nose into her private business. She would make sure any who did so would be dealt with swiftly and given no burial rights.

Slipping into a robe, Shego groggily made her way down the stairs, wandering aimlessly and not caring where her feet led her, so long as she did _not_ fall asleep again.

There was a faint tapping noise somewhere down the corridor and Shego numbly followed the sound.

The bright light assaulted her eyes as most of the lair was dark; only a few fainter lights illuminated the corridors as a handful of the henchmen did their rounds. None dared to bother the robed villainess as she stalked around after hours.

Coming at last into the room, which took her a moment to discern was indeed the kitchen, she saw none other than the mad blue doctor himself. With his back to her, he worked diligently at one of the dining tables momentarily converted into a work bench. Beside him sat a mug of coffee.

Coffee. Sure, why not, she wasn't going to go back to sleep tonight anyway. She drowsily shuffled to the coffee maker knowing the coffee was "fresh" if Drakken was drinking it himself.

"You're up late, Shego." He grumbled to her, hunched over what looked like a remote control. Elbow deep in wires and soldering tools, Drakken uttered figures and electrical equations Shego couldn't make hide or tail of.

"So are you." She retorted, reaching for a mug from one of the cabinets and returning to the coffee maker to fill it. Drakken brushed off her assertion.

"Can't sleep?"

Shego huffed a noncommittal noise as she frisked the fridge. Finding what she wanted, she snagged the little plastic case and shut the refrigerator door with her foot. Shego placed her hot drink and snack between blueprints and assorted lengths of wire before taking a seat opposite the goggled Drakken. Still the mad doctor did not look up from his work.

"What is it with you and strawberries?" he asked as Shego popped one of the firm little red fruits into her mouth. She chewed for a moment and swallowed before answering him.

"That's privileged information."

Drakken frowned at her response, but did not argue. He had just finishing wiring his device and now worked to screw the casing on the back. Shego swallowed her fourth strawberry.

"What exactly are you working on anyway?" she said offhandedly, eyes elsewhere.

Drakken paused in his efforts and he looked at the device as though seeing it for the first time. He turned it over slowly in his hands so that the single red button faced him. His eyes went a little wide as though he had just realized he had been working on it all this time. He studied it for a full moment before sighing tiredly.

"Probably something I'll never use."

"Really?" Shego's building tirade dampened at the exhaustion in the man's face. She bit back the urge to reprimand this idiocy and instead chewed more wickedly on the unfortunate strawberry in her mouth. He gingerly set the object aside and took up his mug of coffee for a long, well needed shot of caffeine.

"So," his voice grated as he rubbed at his bloodshot eyes, "what brings you here so early in the morning? I thought you'd be sleeping off your last heist."

Shego shook her head and took a gulp of coffee herself. Drakken gasped suddenly.

"Shego, your face." He pointed. Shego numbly reached up to the offended cheek, drawing her fingers away at the cool sensation. Blood. Shego studied her finger tips a moment, and shrugged the observation off.

"Must have scratched myself in my sleep." She mumbled.

"Looks more like a slash to me." The mad doctor frowned. "Are you all right? This is the fifth night you've been wandering the lab—"

"You've been _spying_ on me?" she accused.

"Please, I prefer the term 'monitoring.'" Drakken made air quotes.

"More like 'major invasion of privacy.'" Shego mimicked right back. Drakken's snap temper surfaced.

"With two hundred people on your payroll, you'd be monitoring your staff for—don't change the subject!" Drakken's small hands balled into fists. "What happened?"

"It's none of your business." she took a swig of coffee. It was bitter.

"Shego, you know that one of my rules is no secrets!"

"So I have secrets. Everyone does."

"Shego. While under my roof you follow my rules—"

"So rewrite them."

"Oh right, Shego, because revising the SOP's to suit one employee isn't a bureaucratic nightmare."

Drakken and Shego bristled at each other, but the latter had superpowers that promptly went on display.

"I'm about to be your worst nightmare." She glared at him. It wasn't the first time Drakken tried to impose rules and regs on her, but he never seemed to remember her disobedience directly correlated with strict obligations. But suddenly Drakken's eyes popped, realization dawning in their corners.

"Is that what this is about? Nightmares?" Drakken's dark eyes surveyed the startled woman. "That would make your sleepwalking make sense."

"NO, it's—I just—stay _out_ of this! It has nothing to do with you!" She jumped to her feet and slammed her glowing green palms on the table so hard every item on its surface shook. Even Drakken drew back. It unnerved her Drakken knew more about her haunted nights than she did cared to remember. Shego turned on her heel and stormed away, muttering. "The less you know the better."

"Shego," Drakken jumped to his own feet, gesturing wildly, "you've been wandering the lair at night for months, sleeping on the job, botching missions; it's—it's affecting our operations! Hiding from…whatever's bothering you won't make it go away." Drakken's ranting outburst buckled and he suddenly fidgeted, uncertain. "An evil family sticks together."

Shego stopped dead. Her fists pulsed bright with raging energy.

"I don't need your help." She said lowly, not turning to face him, venom dripping in her every word. She left the room, leaving behind an air of obscurity and isolation. Drakken slumped back into his chair; his arms crossed on the table before him and rested his chin on them. He stared listlessly at the little device on the cluttered table.

What had he done?

* * *

**Author's Note: HELLO REA-DAHS! Blackfire 18 is signed back onto Green Silk, Black Satin until completion. For real this time.**

**A hearty welcome to imitateslife who has graciously agreed to be my beta for the duration of this monster project. Now that I have a higher authority to answer to ahem, the editor, I have no excuse to slack off aside from, you know, work. XD**

**But yes, this chapter has been updated for readers old and new to enjoy. Shego's nightmare is less verbose and her late night visit with Drakken is much more in character than this chapter's initial release seven years ago. Shego's story unfolds, so stick around. It's sure to be an adventure.**

**As always, "How's My Driv-Writing? Call the review box below!"**

**Blackfire 18**


	2. The Locket

**Green Silk, Black Satin**

**Chapter 2: The Locket**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kim Possible or any of the characters there within, they're property of Disney.**

Kim Possible and her best friend Ron Stoppable had just finished a hearty meal at Bueno Nacho (more on Ron's behalf than Kim's) and were heading to the mall to do a little window shopping. There was a blouse Kim had had her eyes on for a while now and she had managed to squeak up enough cash to purchase it.

They walked together and joked about Mr. Barkin taking over another one of their elective classes. Who could believe the teacher knew a blanket stitch from a chain? When questioned how Mr. Barkin had acquired the knowledge and skill, he simply said:

"You pick up a stitch or two when traversing the jungles of Jai Alai."

Kim and Ron laughed at each other's impression of the man.

"Next thing you know, Barkin will be telling us he used to be a super villain." Ron wiped a tear from his eye and went on with the improvisation. "'You pick up the darndest things in villainy school.'"

"Oh Ron, I don't think Barkin was ever super villain. Super military maybe, but not villain. Everyone has their little quirks." Kim shrugged aloofly. Ron nodded at the redhead's statement before miming a golfing swing.

"Sure, I mean, look at Duff Killigan. Why is Killigan a mad golfer? At least, Drakken has the right idea in the 'mad' category. If you're going to be mad you might as well be a doctor!"

The teen duo rounded a corner.

"Right Ron, why don't you ask Drakken the next time we see him?"

Ron gave her a contemplative look.

"You really think I should?"

Kim sighed and decided it was best not to answer Ron, he usually took her advice seriously, whether she meant it sincerely or not.

"Excuse me, Miss," a voice said from behind the teens. They both turned abruptly to see a homeless man seated on the sidewalk in tattered, dirty clothes. He had a rank odor of garbage about him. Kim suppressed the urge to gag, but Ron went ahead with his candid gambit.

"Dude, you need to get yourself to a shower." He plugged his nose, and the naked mole rat in his pants pocket made a retching noise and dove back into the pocket.

"Ron!" Kim admonished him, but he would not stop with the overdramatic waving of his arms to clear the air. "You'll have to excuse him," she apologized to the homeless man, "he gets overexcited when he's full." She threw Ron a warning glance before turning back to the unfortunate man. "I-I'm so sorry. I—"

But the man held up a hand and shook his head in understanding.

"I've a favor, young lady." He reached into his torn coat pocket and retrieved a single item; gold glinted in the warm sunlight as a heart-shaped locket appeared in his hands. Diamonds ringed a sapphire, emerald, amethyst and rubies on the locket's face. The dirty, gloved hand that held the golden trinket trembled. "You remind me of my daughter. This is all I have left of her memory. Would…would you wear this Miss?"

Kim's eyes flickered between the dirty, unshaven man's face and the locket that he held out to her. It was an odd request and Kim felt a strange apprehension seize her. Her gaze traveled the ragged scar from the homeless man's ear to his chin and she wondered if an animal had attacked him. The man's weathered face was nothing if not earnest, but something subtle in his dark eyes suggested otherwise. The knot in the cheerleader's stomach tightened. Ron leaned past Kim, knocking her from her hesitant daze, as he studied the trinket.

"Why don't you trade that in for some cash—get a room with meals and a shower?"

"Ron!"

"Please, Miss?" the homeless man motioned for the redhead to take the locket. "It would do an old man's heart good if you wore it." Kim pressed a lopsided smile to her lips, but could not help a slight grimace as she took the jewelry piece from the soiled hand. The man smiled up at her.

"Urm, how much did you want for it?" Kim asked sheepishly, reaching into her pockets for the money she had been reserving for her blouse, but the man only shook his head.

"Cost you nothing, just wear it." He nodded and gave her a yellowed smile.

"But, but please, let me pay for it." Kim insisted. Once again the man shook his head.

"Wear it. Go on, go on, let me see." He motioned she put the locket on. Kim still could not banish a haunting sense of foreboding, but she humored the man and unclasped the chain. Ron helped her when Kim could not fasten it around her neck. When the clasp snapped shut, Kim gave her head a light shake to let both her hair and the golden chain settle. The old man clapped his hands together. Kim saw his eyes shimmer with unspent tears.

"You look just like her. Just like my little girl. Thank you, young lady, thank you." And the homeless man wobbled to his feet. Kim surged forward to help him when he seemed about to fall, but he waved her off and steadied himself against the building behind him. "You're an angel. Pure and simple. An angel sent to me before I go."

"Before you go?" Ron repeated, uncomprehending.

"Please," Kim pleaded with the man, "let me pay for—"

"Wear it always?" his wild, dark eyes flickered over her face in hopeful desperation. Kim broke down.

"Yes. Yes, I'll wear it."

"Oh, thank goodness." He placed a hand over the lapel of his ratty overcoat. "If you don't— the sky will fall and the sun implode and the stars turn black…" he grinned as he went on, the teenaged girl weakly returned the smile. She was saved by Ron tugging at her elbow, as it appeared the old man had lost his sanity right before their eyes.

"Maybe we should help him?" Kim muttered to Ron as they put distance between the man and themselves—his laughter still following them.

"Nah, he's happy in his own little world, Kim." Ron laughed hollowly and glanced back over his shoulder at the hobo who was still shaking and laughing, alternately throwing his hands in the air and gripping at his stomach.

Kim touched the locket and her shoulders slumped a little, as though a weight had been thrown there.

"Well, Kim Possible doesn't break a promise." She let the locket drop back onto her chest when she suddenly slowed in stride. "Okay, this is weird."

"What?" Ron asked nervously.

"It's…it's warm." Kim had stopped in her tracks completely, and threw her gaze back to where the homeless man had been, but he was gone. The knots in her stomach were returning.

"Warm?" Ron walked back for her and picked up the locket himself before quickly releasing it. "Whoa, that's weird. It's warm!"

"Unusually warm." Kim said, her hand immediately diving for her Kimmunicator. She rang up the 10-year-old computer genius on the other side. "Wade? Got something seriously freaky for you to check out."

A light flickered on the transmitter as she scanned the locket and sent the download to Wade.

"Got it. Give me ten minutes to examine it, okay?" Wade said.

"The faster the better." Wade gave her a thumb's up and Kim shut off the screen, her eyes straying again to where the old man had been.

"Aaaare we not going to the mall then?" Ron cut into her thoughts, rubbing the back of his neck. Kim gave him a reassuring smile; though its effect did not relieve her discomfort with the entire situation, Ron was all too happy to accept her encouragement. Kim shrugged off her anxiety at Ron's smile and she started toward the mall again.

"We'd better go. I need something to get my mind off this whole thing."

* * *

Kim had just picked up the blouse she'd saved for when her Kimmunicator's ring sounded in her pocket. Fishing for it, she quickly turned on the screen.

"Find anything strange?" Kim asked right away but Wade took a sip of soda and shook his head.

"Initial scan return nothing out of the ordinary. It's a genuine, 24 karat gold locket." Wade's eyebrows rose to match Kim's. "Where did you say you got it?"

"Some guy, he…" Kim jerked a thumb over her shoulder and jabbed Ron's upper lip. She smiled in apology as Ron massaged his face.

"Twenty-four karat? Holy cow, that's some fundage. He really could have afforded a bath then." Ron clarified. Kim rolled her eyes at her companion but did not continue as Wade interjected.

"Tell you what. I'll keep an eye on the download and have you scan again a few hours from now to look for any chemical or corporeal changes. But really, I called because we've got a situation over at one of Drakken's hideouts."

Kim groaned and held up the blouse for Wade to see. "Do you know how long I've been waiting to buy this shirt?"

"Sorry Kim, it's urgent." Wade consulted another computer screen and began typing away. "It reaches as far as Global Justice on this case."

"Wow, that bad huh? Never thought Drakken had it in him." Kim mumbled to herself and hung the shirt back on its rack. "All right Wade, I'm on my way. Call in a ride for me, will you?"

"Already done, Kim! There's a jet waiting for you outside, GJ, wants you to apprehend Drakken as quickly as you can. Good luck!" and the communicator went off on the other end.

"Come on, Ron, time to move."

"But these jeans are totally cool!"

"Ron!"

"All right, all right, I'm coming! But we have got to come back for these…"

The duo rushed out of the mall entrance to find a jet awaiting them, just as Wade had said. It was not long before they were airborne over the gawking eyes and mouths of the pedestrians below.

* * *

"Possible is here again, Doctor D."

Shego had her feet propped up on the monitor dashboard as she leaned back in her chair, thumbing through the latest issue of _Villains Monthly_. Her eyes scanned but nothing stuck; she had lost another restless night of sleep. Scratch that, she had a very productive night destroying Drakken's closed circuit cameras scattered all over the lair. He was furious. Shego was convinced he had only himself to blame.

But to her surprise, Drakken made no mention of their sharp exchange the night before and dropped the property damage issue rather quickly. He still threw one of his "Angrish" fits composed of grunted unwords and wild gesticulating, screamed at a henchman to clean up the mess, and immediately set to work. He was still upset with her, but too preoccupied to deliver a fitting penalty. They'd avoided each other most of the morning.

"Again?" Drakken barked and turned to his assistant. She continued to read. "_Well?_ Get ready to intercept them Shego!"

Clearly she wasn't the only one suffering from insomnia-induced irritation. She tossed the magazine over her shoulder and pushed back from the module.

"Do I have to do everything around here?"

Drakken threw her a venomous glance, even as he worked the levers of his latest death ray machine.

"For once, just do as you're told!" Drakken asserted vehemently, and Shego mockingly placed a hand over her heart.

"That stings, Dr. D; when have I ever not begrudgingly fulfilled an order?"

Shego did not see Drakken grind his teeth in frustration as she glanced about the lair for the best point of attack from Kimmie's projected entry.

"You'd better get more sleep, grumpy monkey." Drakken muttered.

Shego froze on her way to the entrance Kim Possible would enter from. She spun back to face the doctor.

"What was that?" She demanded. Drakken's eyes popped open and he bit his lips. "I don't judge your nightly habits, doc. Next time you need a put-me-down, I'll be first in line to knock you out."

"Fine, fine. Just, you know…be ready." Drakken waved a free hand and sputtered angrily, but not without a look of thinly veiled fear. Shego's eyes rolled up to her head as she leapt atop a machine near the entrance and crouched in wait.

Kim Possible chose that moment to barge into the lab, followed closely by Ron.

"All right, Drakken, you're seriously cutting into my social time." Kim shouted to him over the noise of the machines. "Another death ray? Been there, done that." Kim sprang forward to apprehend Drakken and shut down the machine, when a flash of green and jarring pain shot her in the side.

"Not so fast, Kimme. You haven't forgotten about me, now have you?"

Shego landed lightly in Kim's place, gloved hands glowing and a superior smirk on her lips.

"Whoa, what's up with you?" Kim's eyes screwed up at the green woman as she took up a loose defensive stance.

"Same as always." Shego struck out and the cheerleader deflected the blows.

"No seriously, you don't look so good."

"Yeah, you look sick." Ron chimed in from where his foot was tangled in a bed of wires.

"Yeah, okay, less talking, more fighting." Shego lunged at Kim and Kim barely had enough time to dodge; she swung around, red hair flying to deliver a kick to Shego's side. The villainous went down, but quickly came back out of it too. Kim was becoming more like her in her ruthless style of fighting. The two continued to brawl, a roundhouse kick to Shego's cheek, which the woman dodged and retaliated with a claw to Kim's stomach, which Kim parried.

In mid-air, Kim felt the locket tumble free from its hiding place beneath her shirt and her heart stopped when Shego's eyes locked on the golden flash.

The woman's hands bloomed with a fearsome fire. Emerald green eyes glinting, Shego moved with the speed of a striking snake and she was on Kim before the girl could even touch the ground.

Shego snatched Kim's wrist and jerked the teen hero's arm behind her, yanking up on it, hard. Kim cried out in pain, shocked by the abnormal brutality in her arch-nemesis' unrelenting grip. Kim was well acquainted with Shego's rough fighting style, but this was something entirely new. And utterly deadly.

"Where did you get this?" Shego snarled venomously into Kim's ear and the girl was surprised at the bizarre mixture of shock and hatred in her arch-foes voice. The viselike hand holding Kim's twisted wrist was fiercely hot. The girl struggled to bite back the pain, grimacing with the effort.

"What? I don't know what you're talking about!" Kim shouted, struggling to break free, but her captor's grip was ironclad. The chain ripped from around Kim's neck, stinging the sensitive skin there. Fear began to overtake her anger at the unbridled violence in Shego's actions. The little golden locket appeared before Kim's squinting vision.

"Where did you get this, Possible?" Shego demanded, shaking the trinket so that it bounced and jangled at the end of its chain. Her voice was low, dripping with poison. Again Kim's arm was yanked upward behind her back. Stifling her cry, Kim shut her eyes and remained silent; unwilling to relate the homeless man's story to her tormentor. A sharp shove nearly sent the cheerleader flying, but Shego snapped the girl back as if she were nothing more than a toy on a string. "_Where?_"

"What does it matter to you, Shego?" Kim exhaled, shocked by the woman's viciousness but still rebelliously defiant. There was a roar of outrage in Kim's ear, when her feet were kicked out from beneath her and Kim fell face-forward onto cold concrete. A sharp inhale that would have restored some of her breath was knocked out of her as she collided with the floor. Shego's knee dug cruelly into Kim's back as the other pressed down into her neck. The girl's face was crushed into the laboratory floor and the knee in her neck made it almost impossible to breathe. This was unlike Shego! This—animal pinning her was not the cultured fighter Kim knew.

Her arm yanked up even higher, Kim's teeth ground in a mixture of hate and terror. Daggers within the green and black clad woman's gloves pressed dangerously into Kim's throat.

"_Where_, Possible? Or I swear I'll—" the dagger tips' pressure was increasing and Kim frenziedly struggled for breath.

"Some homeless man on the street gave it to me on the way to the mall!" She screamed, disbelieving Shego's incensed reaction at something so small.

"Which mall? How long ago?" The woman shouted and Kim fell to her panic when a bead of liquid ran down her throat.

"Middleton! Two hours ago!"

Suddenly the weight lifted. It took Kim a moment to realize she had been released from the villainess' death grip. Her hand flew to her aching neck and she gasped at the gauge the torn chain had left in her skin. Kim looked wildly for Shego and spotted her swinging through an open upper window and out of the facility.

"Kim! Are you all right?"

Ron had caught up to Kim, placing a hand on her shoulder, just now having freed himself from the tangle of wires in his rush to help his teammate.

"I'm all right," Kim muttered to him, rubbing her throat. It really hurt. It startled Kim how easily Shego had caught her in that painful hold. And the violence to keep her there. It almost made their other fights seem…tame.

She stared at the open window a moment in confusion, then threw her gaze over to Drakken who also happened to be staring slack-jawed in bewilderment at Shego's sudden departure.

Drakken looked between the window and his teenaged foe before a sheepish smile spread widely across his face. He released the levers on his whirring machine and carefully raised one leg before he was off like a shot, following suit after his mutinous subordinate.

The two teenagers watched the blue streak of Drakken beat his way to freedom, before they glanced back at each other. Ron helped Kim sit up.

"Ouch, are you all right?" Ron's fingers reached to touch the injury to Kim's neck, but stopped short. Kim touched the mark instead.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." She lied.

Ron shook his head and looked again at the window Shego had disappeared through.

"What just happened?"

* * *

**Author's Note: And thusly, this story has been fully updated to reflect a writer grown over the last seven years. And after seven years, I am knuckling down, digging in, and painting my game face to complete this story. It feels a lot more satisfactory as this facelift and I'm excited to continue. **

**This chapter mostly stood on its own to the wrath of my revision-I added a mini-scene about Barkin (because I've discovered just recently how awesome he really is in the series!) and lasting consequences that traveled over from the first chapter between Drakken and Shego. This chapter is much more grounded now in that effect and not just floating around. I was taught something lasting in one writing class of mine: _The king died and then the queen died is a story. The king died and then queen died of grief is a plot – _ E.M. Forster. I've since included this wisdom into my works-and that includes fanfiction.**

**So read on dear readers, and see what this queen dies of.**

**Blackfire 18**


	3. The Prodigal Promise Society

**Green Silk, Black Satin**

**Chapter 3: The Prodigal Promise Society**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kim Possible or any of the characters there within, they are property of Disney!**

Two hours ago, Shego had leapt with catlike agility down the sweeping ramparts of Drakken's hillside lair, dropped onto the flight line, and ripped open a locker in the hangar. She yanked the skull cap over her head, tucked her voluptuous hair up, and donned her customized black and green flight helmet. She snatched a candy bar and stuffed it into her leg pouch. She paused only to consider the locket before tucking it away also and climbing into her XF-07 _Manta_ jet.

The pre-flight check she often took great pains to observe went out the window as she started up the engines, whipped the fighter around, and opened the throttle. The plane screamed off the flight line and abruptly banked to the southeast toward the Florida Keys.

Shego wasted no time flying to Middleton, the rube who passed the locket to Possible wouldn't hang around once the goods were taken by the carrier. Whoever flagged down the cheerleader was just a minion sending along a message. A message Shego hoped never to receive. What she needed now was information.

The _Manta _touched down on a landing strip outside of the high class resort and charter club "The Bermuda Triangle,"—a favorite haunt of the most successful caliber of entrepreneurs, scientists and politicians; every one of them villains. She taxied to an open hangar and swung out of the cockpit before the grease monkeys swarming below could attach their ladder.

"Fill her up," Shego snapped, striding forward, "you have fifteen minutes or fifteen loose teeth. Got me?"

The flight service mechanics nodded in terror and set to work on Shego's plane without a word. Shego stalked the long way to the "royal" suites, the security posted outside would not let her enter in her jumpsuit and helmet, but she had no time to bother with them anyway. Swinging around the hotel section of the resort, the woman vaulted onto a rising exterior elevator car, popped open the trapdoor with one clawed finger and dropped into a group of shocked vacationers. She stabbed the button for the highest floor and folded her arms over her chest, glaring at the elegantly dressed occupants who gawked.

"What're you lookin' at?" she said. The visitors huddled in one corner of the car in silence, leaving the terrible elevator music to fill the silence. The modest group edged around Shego when they reached their floor and took off at a run down the hallway.

At last, Shego arrived at the top floor which opened directly into the Aquarius suite. Hangings of dried sea life and shells and windows of fish tanks filled with colorful tropical fish checkered the walls. A massive tank at the center held a large squid captive. A light fragrance of salty air permeated the rooms and dim blue lighting gave the feeling of actually being underwater.

A morbidly obese man sat on an array of pillows deeper into the vestibule. Shego made for him.

A square of black stepped into her path and she stopped short, frowning.

"Move it, Mike, he knows why I'm here," she said, making to pass on the huge bodyguard's left, but a thick arm swung out to block her. Beady black eyes that seldom blinked stared hard at the interloper, but a soft laugh from beyond drew their attention.

"She's right, I am expecting her." The obese man said.

The bodyguard gave her one last look of scrutiny before stepping aside. Shego strode to the table and stood rigidly before the information broker.

"Ok, Brotherson, where is—"

"Password?"

Shego deflated a bit before a look of incredulity passed over her face.

"Are you kidding me? Our families have been doing transactions for decades."

The man's expression darkened and he made to snap his fingers, a wall of muscle already appearing at Shego's back.

"_Kandieren!_" she shouted, elbowing the bodyguard back. "Back off, lummox."

Mike stepped back into the shadows and Shego cracked a stiff joint in her neck. Demanding the password from her. Unbelievable.

"Sit down," Big Daddy Brotherson gestured toward a pillow, but Shego crossed her arms.

"Where is he?"

"Who?" The man patted his bulbous belly with both hands. His simpering smile infuriated her. She reached down and fished out the locket to where it dangled from her fingers in plain view.

"_Him?_"

"I'm not sure what you mean." He innocently shrugged his heavy shoulders. Shego's hands flared green and Brotherson's easy pleasure became wary.

"I'm not sure you're taking me seriously," she hissed and Brotherson raised a placating hand.

"Very well," he sighed, dabbing his sweaty forehead with a kerchief, "you never did play by the rules."

"I'm shocked you would forget." She mimicked his intonations. The glow faded. Brotherson motioned Shego give him the trinket. She handed it to him and he studied it.

"I remember this piece. The locket was in Global Justice's possession until six months ago when their records reported it as stolen. The thief sold it to me a few days ago and it was recently purchased for a handsome sum by one of my best clients."

"Who?"

Brotherson began to smile that pompous smile again and Shego's hands ignited immediately. He swallowed.

"The brotherly sort."

Shego's mouth fell open.

"Marcus? He's in on this?" her eyes narrowed, gears turning.

"They go back further than you know," Brotherson murmured, handing the locket back to Shego who took it numbly. The obese man sat back on his pillows into a more comfortable position.

"Too far." Shego muttered. "Where is Marcus now?"

"Does he have a reason to leave the Fraterno Estate?" The man said in an off-hand way; suggestion without actually betraying his client was how Big Daddy conducted his best business. Shego's hand went up to rub at her eyes.

"He always could buy off his problems. I guess it's time I see just how far this train wreck goes." Shego made to leave but only got two steps out when Brotherson spoke again.

"Your father was here."

She stopped dead. She turned and saw a cruel little smile on those thin, pasty lips. They stared each other down in wordless exchange, each knowing precisely what the other meant and subsequently demanded.

"I wasn't." Shego tossed him the chocolate bar which Brotherson eagerly caught in one pudgy hand. He had quick reflexes for someone of his size. She walked down the hall. "Not a word, Daddy."

"All in the family, Shego. Always a pleasure to see your smiling faces." Brotherson chuckled behind her. Shego's expression turned ugly but she pressed on without looking back.

The hangar parking and gas fees were outrageous, but Shego knew better than to limit her refueling stations and paid out, grumbling as she swiped credit. To the mechanics and valet credit, they refueled, replaced worn tires and washed the cockpit canopy without any extra fees. The head valet nodded to Shego and she gave him a brief salute. They had a working understanding of each other; there were only so many villain-friendly flight lines in the world.

Time still pressed her and the threat of the man she was desperately trying to avoid hung over her like a pall as she flew out of The Bermuda Triangle. Hurtling along at nearly supersonic speed and her heading set to Go City's coordinates, her mind inevitably turned to home.

* * *

"You were the leader last time, Henry. It's my turn!"

Five siblings dressed in capes and masks chased each other around their backyard beneath the tree that held their "Top Secret Base" disguised as an ordinary tree house. The oldest, a muscular young teenager took care to dance out of his sister's grasping hands.

"No, it's my turn!" The younger boy pushed his older sister so that she fell. Dirt and grass stains marred the front of her light green dress. She sprang back up immediately and shoved him right back.

"Shut up, Melvin!" The boy went flying and crashed into the dirt.

"Sheila Go!" Henry chastised, picking up his sniffling younger brother and resetting the mask that had fallen around his mouth. "You know better than that. Say you're sorry."

The girl hugged her arms over herself and pouted, unapologetic.

"It's my turn!" she insisted as Henry patted a weepy Melvin's back.

"No it isn't. It's Tuesday. You get to play leader every other Wednesday and Melvin every other Friday. That's what we agreed on."

"Nah uh! I didn't agree." Sheila stuck her tongue out to Melvin when he did.

"Those are the rules." Henry said, head high and cape blowing in the wind. "And we will always follow the rules."

"Oh yeah? Well what if I don't follow the rules?" Sheila raised two clawed hands in the air and struck what she thought was her best evil pose. "What if I was a bad guy?"

Her brothers stared at her. Henry frowned.

"Don't be silly." The oldest sibling swept up one of the toddlers who waddled past and spun him over his head. "Besides, we have Doctor Weston and Professor Wesley, the most evil of evil super villain twins! Rarg! Oh no, he's got me!" Henry dramatically pretended to grow feeble as "Doctor Weston" laughed and clapped his hands. Henry fell carefully to the ground, still holding his giggling youngest brother aloft. "Save me, Melvin!"

The boy eagerly rushed to take the evil Doctor Weston to the "Top Secret Prison" and got to the first nailed two-by-four step when Henry stopped him.

"Whoa bro, let Sheila do that. I'll grab Professor Wesley before he can escape!" Henry chased the other twin across the yard as Sheila rolled her eyes and gathered up Weston to haul him into the tree house. Melvin, Henry and Wesley followed shortly after.

A shadow fell over the tree house.

In place of the sun, a brightly burning comet descended on the residents of Go City; its brilliant colors leaving a streak of color across the sky.

Henry had been talking about some boring strategy for the sibling's next hero mission when the children's tree house exploded.

Sheila awoke to the screams of her horrified mother. The blue skies confused her until she realized she was lying on her back; hot and cold tremors racking her body. The wooden splinters bloodying her arms and the sickly sweet smell of the smoking meteorite at the center of the wreckage. She reached up to rub the angry welt on her head only to see her hands glowing a sickly green.

* * *

Shego remembered that day vividly.

Henry, glowing blue, almost died that day. A large wood shard severed an artery and he nearly bled to death. He took the miracle of his survival as a sign of fate. A sign that he and his siblings were meant to be heroes. Melvin had sustained the most bodily damage; his doctors insisted his ability to grow and shrink was what saved him lasting mutilation. He was babied ever since. That never stopped her for making fun of how purple the radiation made him. The twins were barely scraped by the event. Turned out their "prison" kept them safe from the impact. Their power was the worst of all. They could multiply into the hundreds if they concentrated. As if two of them weren't enough.

But Sheila's power…

The _Manta _swooped around Go Tower and banked toward a lonely landing strip on the outskirts of the city a few miles in from the bay. A landing strip that had been built for a single person.

Images flooded her mind. Shego grunted and tensed as if she could force the memories away.

Hego rescuing a cat from a tree by "walking" the limbs to the ground. Melvin shrinking to unlock a bank vault from the inside.

Shego tossed her head as the jet descended, landing gear thrown out.

_Stop it. _

Weston and Wesley multiplying to fool a pair of novice thieves.

Flaps down, throttle back; the ground rushing up.

_Stop it! Stop!_

A little girl in a little green dress sobbing at the edge of a horse pasture.

"_My powers can only do bad!"_

The _Manta_ jarred her back to the present as it slammed harder than she would have liked into the tarmac and roared down the runway. She brought her bird safely to a stop and its engines wound down with a whine. Her arms shook as she gripped the yoke and not because of the rough landing. Shego unbuckled and removed her helmet and cap, dumping them in the cockpit as she slipped out of the fighter and surveyed the decrepit, high-vaulted mansion over the field. The estate was exactly how she remembered it if fallen into a little disrepair.

Tufts of hardy weeds poked up through the runway, several shrubs elegantly lining the mansion were overgrown and needed trimming; the high glass windows had a thin but discernible layer of dirt visible. The place could use a landscaper's touch to restore it to its former glory.

And the place was glorious once. Memories of her days here flooded her mind.

Her first time at full gallop over that field. The impromptu races she bested her peers in. She and her classmates fighting to see Saturn during late night astronomy lessons in the observatory. Marcus clapping a hand over his eyes when Shego came in too low to land. Those trees near the start of the runway were still stumps.

The spot at the far end of the pasture where Marcus rode in on his piebald mare and found her that fateful day.

Shego set her jaw and moved over the acre of land toward the mansion. An enclosed pasture complete with stables, a corral, and a jumping course sprawled to her right. It was littered with weeds. A movement on the field caught her eye.

Most of the horses had fled in terror from the roar of the incoming jet, but one remained by the edge of the white fence neighing and bobbing its head.

Shego's lips parted.

"Bandit?"

The beautiful—if graying—black Arabian excitedly bucked as she approached, whipping his tail and spinning in circles until she reached one hand out to pat him. The stallion was having none of it and brusquely shoved his big head into her chest, snorting.

"Oof! Easy, boy!" Shego laughed as she scratched the horse behind the ears. One of Bandit's hind legs kicked with pleasure. "I can't believe you're still here."

Shego patted the stallion's neck and he nibbled at her bangs as he had all those years ago. Her breath caught at the endearment.

"I know, I know, but I don't have time." Shego ran her fingers over the horse's face and cheek before continuing toward the house. Bandit followed her along the fence line the entire way, commenting and making demands nonstop. "You big dolt." Shego muttered affectionately. She remembered the miles of trails they raced on without ever leaving the estate and she wondered if the stallion could still jump. Shego stole one last glance at the playing Arabian as he charged around, wild ebony mane flying. He had inspired her to grow her hair out as a little girl. Long and free.

Bandit's neighs followed her all the way to the mansion's impressive, carved, double oak doors. She clasped the handle and pushed. The entrance was unlocked. Dim chandeliers over a winged double staircase greeted her; the tick of a tall grandfather clock punctuated the silence. A grim temperament settled on her once more as she moved through the main foyer. Had she walked without the light tread of a ninja, her footsteps would have echoed through the dark, quiet rooms. She instinctively knew where the owner of the manor would be and made for the flickering of firelight at the end of the main hall.

Passing several offices, guest- and play-rooms, she finally stepped into the study. A library lined with full bookcases, maps, metal-work apparatuses, a large desk and pair of red leather high back chairs seated facing an expansive hearth, Shego had to force herself to push down the memories of the hundreds of hours she spent in this room. An iced beverage sat condensing on a petite coffee table beside the hearth chairs. Next to the glass sat a dish of fresh strawberries. Shego's face became stony. She spotted a pair of pajama-clad legs crossed at the ankle poking out from one of the red chairs.

"I see my investments returned excellent dividends." A deep voice filled the chamber. "Still current on your multi-engine rating? And they said a ten-year-old could not be trained."

Shego folded her arms.

The legs unfolded and a face leaned into view. Age showed in the lines of his face and the white streaks at his temples, but the man was still handsome and lean. A smile reached his shrewd hazel eyes as he set down the book he'd been reading and stood to greet her. Dressed in an Armani tailored suit or a red velvet robe as he did now, Marcus Fraterno always did look smart. He opened his arms.

"Sheila."

"Don't call me that." Shego glared at him. He inclined his head, clasping his hands behind his back.

"My apologies. You still go by…Shego then?" He smiled, but Shego did not return it. He continued unperturbed. "What a fine young woman you've become."

"Cut the small talk, Marcus, what do you want?"

Marcus chuckled, a rich sound.

"Right down to business. I believe that characteristic is what made you my best student." He stooped to collect his glass, sipping at its contents.

"What do you _want?_"

Marcus' easy smile faded a bit.

"If only I could say the same of your patience." He replaced his drink and squared up his shoulders. This was the all business businessman she remembered. Her mentor. "You're in danger."

"I'm a criminal. Tell me something I don't know." She rolled her eyes and stepped around him; snatching up a handful of strawberries and popping one into her mouth. Marcus' eyebrows raised a fraction.

"Global Justice is involved."

Shego stopped chewing.

"Okay, now you have my attention." She turned to face him.

"You've been…recruited to one of their larger top secret projects."

Shego's eyes narrowed. GJ had tried to recruit her on three occasions: Once as a ten-year-old not long after she and her brothers were struck by the comet; once at fourteen when she ran away from home; and the last when she was nearly through with her college degree.

"What are you saying?" she demanded. "I don't want anything to do with _that man._"

Marcus inhaled deeply, remorse etched in every line of his face.

"I have a confession to make. Your enrollment in the Prodigal Promise Society was deliberate; it served as a means to an end. I was pledged exorbitant financial profits to nurture and cultivate your latent talents to supplement an experimental project, which I now regret ever having endorsed."

"What project? What are you talking about?" Shego's hands balled into fists, strawberry juice dripping to stain the Persian carpet.

"I'm so sorry, Sheila," he said before he raised his arms and stepped back in horror. Shego spun around to the doorway and she started violently, shock buzzing in every fiber of her being.

"_NO WAY!_" Shego screamed

The individual leaning on the doorway grinned.

"The Master. At last we meet."

* * *

**Author's Note: I love me a cliffhanger. Be prepared, there will be more of those.**

**And with that, _Green Silk, Black Satin_ has finally seen it's next update after three years. I really have _imitateslife_ to thank for encouraging me to pursue this project and her generous offer to beta the remainder of the project. Thank you my dear beta for editing this chapter in such quick fashion! I hope the revisions you see here suffice.**

**The plot begins chapter-and what a joy it was to write. I realize how much I've missed writing for Shego. She's smart and snarky and that's just an awesome combination. I hope it shows here. I apologize for bringing my own characters into this, I hate breaking a perfectly functional fandom like that, but in this case it is absolutely necessary and hopefully not too horrible a suspension of belief to read proper. I assure you, more of the KP cast will get their dues. It's gonna be a ride.**

**What can I say about being back on this 7-year-in-the-making fic? It feels great to come back to it and I feel like I can better tackle what I had planned; and still a bit daunted by its girth. But as I inevitably circle back to this every few years, I'm determined to knock it out once and for all. So yes, readers new and old, I WILL BE finally finishing this story. Join me and I'll spin you a yarn all right.**

**Blackfire 18**


	4. Enlisted

**Green Silk, Black Satin **

**Chapter 4: Enlisted **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kim Possible or any of the characters there within, excepting the ones I created who are not present in this chapter. Kim Possible is property of Disney!**

Kim strongly believed her shoulder was dislocated.

As she and Ron pulled their ripcords in free-fall, the snap of the full chute jarred her aching limb and she cried out in pain. She couldn't properly reach the toggle on the steering line with her left arm, leaving only her right to operate her entire spiraling descent.

After an eternity, Kim landed hard just up the street from her house. She cut the line. The rough flight seemed to have inflamed her already angry arm. She'd worry about the chute later; she needed medical attention now.

Ron, who had landed before Kim for once, rushed up to her.

"KP, are you all right?" His eyes searched her face. Kim tried her best to put on a smile.

"I need to see my mom. Can you get my parachute? Please and thank you." She walked on without pause, cradling her left arm to her.

The crisp morning air kept Kim's head level as she tramped over the dew-tipped grass before her house. It was early yet; her mother should still be whipping up eggs and bacon for the family.

Kim went straight inside and immediately dodged a rocket that hurtled out of the front door. The automatic movement sent white-hot pain into Kim's arm and shoulder.

"TWEEBS!" she screamed as they rushed giggling past her. "Not now!"

"What's your problem?" Jim and Tim said together, not waiting around for an answer. Kim tottered her way to the kitchen and found her parents poring over the paper; her father the news section, her mother the lifestyle.

"Did you read about the bomber in London?" Mr. Possible said.

"Nineteen dead," Mrs. Possible sighed. "What a terrible waste of life."

"Mom?" Kim groaned.

"Good Morning, Ki— " Doctor Ann Possible looked up from the table, surveyed her daughter for an instant and jumped to her feet. "Honey, what happened? What's wrong with your arm?"

"I think it's popped out." Kim bit her lower lip, fighting the pulsing waves of pain. Mr. Possible put his paper down. Ann swept over to her daughter's side and examined the shoulder. Gentle, experienced fingers probed the soreness.

"Partial anterior dislocation," the doctor mumbled, "how long has it been like this?"

"For the plane ride back?" Kim said. At her mother's concerned look, she continued. "It didn't really start hurting until about an hour ago."

"On the table." Ann led Kim to the dining table as Mr. Possible quickly cleared it. Kim lay on her back as her mother clasped above Kim's bad shoulder and wrist. The doctor directed her husband to hold their daughter's other shoulder down.

"What happened, Kimberly?" Her father demanded; his tone laced with anxiety as he pressed her shoulder to the table. Kim's face twisted up in pain as her mother firmly pulled on her left arm. A shock of agony rebounded up and down her arm.

"Shego." Kim said, grinding her teeth. "She went craz—AHH!"

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart!" Ann let Kim's arm go slack as her daughter panted.

"Shego? Haven't you clashed with that woman before? You never came home like this." A knit formed between Mr. Possible's eyebrows. Ann readjusted her grip on Kim's arm and began to pull again. Kim shut her tearing eyes, a muted scream filling her throat.

"Whoa, what happened to Kim?" Tim said as he and his twin brother entered the kitchen.

"Kim's arm is broken!" Jim shouted and the pair swarmed the table.

The twins hovered over their sister more delighted than distressed by the unusual circumstances befalling their invincible sister.

"_TWEEBS!_"

"Boys, out!" Ann snapped. The twins, too startled by their mother's curt dismissal to understand the gravity of the situation, quietly went to stand on the far end of the kitchen just as Ron entered. He gasped and dropped Kim's tangled parachute.

"Kim!"

"Ronald, please," Mr. Possible warned, when the girl jerked at the sound of her friend's voice. The stony reception left Ron speechless as he stood watching the Doctor Possibles labor over their rigid daughter. Rufus rushed up onto Ron's shoulder, whiskers trembling. All of them intent the kitchen table. Mr. Possible continued to adhere to the brisk directions his wife gave him.

A squeak, a sudden jolt and Ron tensed. Even the twins flinched at Kim's agonized cry.

After several excruciating attempts, Kim's arm popped in. The girl heaved a sigh and went lax. Everyone around her let out relieved sighs. Ron rushed forward, shocked and confused as Ann helped her daughter sit up. She and her mother glistened with sweat from straining to right the dislocation. They exchanged glances, worry for reassurance. Ann affectionately brushed a lock of red hair from Kim's eyes.

"Kim, I—I didn't know Shego—" Ron began, but Kim shook her head.

"I didn't know she could either," Kim admitted.

"How does this feel?" Her mother gently rotated Kim's arm. "Is there numbness? Pain? Tightness? Should I stay home?"

"No, it's much better, thanks Mom." To prove it, Kim slid off the kitchen table and tested the arm herself. It was a bit stiff, but felt right again.

"Show's over." Jim said to Tim.

"Too bad. We could have given her a cyber-robotic arm."

"Yeah! One that shoots missiles out of the fingertips."

"Or grenades!"

The twins went off spouting ideas on how they could have improved upon their sister if she'd given them the chance. Kim rolled her eyes and grabbed an apple.

"I have to get to school."

"Are you serious, KP?" Ron asked.

"Ronald's right, are you sure you're up to it, Kimmie Cub?" Mr. Possible cautiously placed a hand on his daughter's shoulder.

"I'm fine, Dad."

"Ann?"

"Only the patient knows best." She said.

"I'm fine," Kim insisted.

The three studied her and exchanged glances. Her father frowned as he went upstairs to freshen up for work, Ron ran home to get his homework, but her mother hung back. Dr. Possible and Kim stared at each other.

"That's never happened to you, Kim," she said softly. "Why this time?"

Kim didn't want to explain about accepting jewelry from a strange man and the violent reaction it caused in her arch-nemesis. She shrugged.

"One insult too many, I guess." Her mother did not seem convinced.

"Maybe you should take a…a break from saving the world?" She picked up the paper and held it up for Kim to see. An image of a blackened, rubble-strewn train tunnel took up half the page; its headline read _London Tube pipe bombed_. "There have been reports of robberies in Silicon Valley, a jailbreak in Scotland, thefts from a temple in India—"

"And burglaries in Zhongguancun, I know, Mom. Wade's got me up to date. They'll call if they need me."

Mrs. Possible set down the paper, her words caught in her throat.

"There seems to be a lot of unrest these days. The world is not as safe as it used to be." She met her daughter's eyes again. "I worry."

"It's no big, I can handle myself and anything those villains can throw at me. I gotta go, Mom. Thank you for fixing me up."

Kim pressed a kiss to her mother's cheek and stepped back to go but her mother's hand caught hers.

"Be careful, Kim." Ann squeezed her hand and left. Kim watched her mother go and stared at the apple in her hand. She put the fruit back in the basket and headed out the door.

Shego's vicious attack haunted Kim's thoughts all day.

The fight replayed over and over in her mind; she threw a punch, jumped one of the villainess' sweep-kicks and Shego responded as she always did. But what unsettled Kim was Shego's expression when those catlike eyes locked on the locket around Kim's neck. The shock and fury on that green face was palpable. A horror mixed with a deep, dark wrath that carried into Shego's terrifying ironclad hold. Kim could still feel the plasma burning her wrist.

But underneath all of Shego's anger, there was a note of desperation underpinning her words. The dripping venom gave way to urgency.

And Kim's still stiff arm left her with a certain disquiet. She gently gave her shoulder a roll as Mr. Barkin droned on about trigonometry equations and her muscles clenched. Kim nibbled the eraser on her pencil.

It was as if, for the first time, Shego engaged Kim in real combat. It made every previous fight seem like a friendly sparring match between friends; every brawl a playact where Shego did not give her all. Kim encountered the hidden villain in Shego: A being with no mercy. And Shego departed the instant she got what she wanted.

What did it all mean?

After an unproductive day of school, Ron met Kim at her locker, still shaken by the events of that morning.

"So Kim, uh, up for Bueno Nacho?" He fidgeted.

Kim put a couple books in her locker and shut it, shouldering her backpack on her good arm.

"My arm is still a bit stiff. I think I'm just going to head home."

"Want me to walk you?" Ron offered.

"Nah, you go on ahead." Kim touched his shoulder when Ron frowned. "Bring me back something, 'kay?"

Ron watched her go.

Kim got a block from the school when the sidewalk opened beneath her and she went tumbling into a tube that sealed and shot through a dark, underground tunnel. Her stiff arm jarred by the abduction, Kim lay awkwardly on her backpack as the pod accelerated in a horizontal fashion, bracing the glass with her hands for support. Her left shoulder socket gnawed at her during the turbulent ride, but she stubbornly weathered the ache. This had Global Justice's signature all over it.

An instant later, the cylinder slowed and landed on a transporter pad where it locked in and its glass door hissed open in time with a thick metal plate revealing the antechamber of Global Justice. Standing on the other side was a woman in boots, a blue jumpsuit, and a patch over her right eye. She smiled.

"Kim Possible."

"Dr. Director," Kim said, stepping out of the cylinder, "to what do I owe this honor?"

"I'm so glad you asked." The commander of Global Justice turned smartly and headed into the heart of the top secret spy organization. Kim followed past the central information bureau lined with agents typing at computers, the laboratory and technology wings, and finally into the war room.

Agents poring over maps and databases paused in their work to salute Dr. Director who returned the gesture. Several operatives moved to the main module and opened a holographic, three-dimensional map of the globe that slowly rotated on its axis. Flickering red lights highlighted major cities on every continent but Antarctica. One indistinct agent swept to the fore and urgently whispered something to Dr. Director. The leader nodded and murmured back.

"The compliance serum didn't work? Sedatives?" A mutter. "Keep her contained, I'll be there in twenty."

Kim leaned back from the conversation with a sheepish smile when Dr. Director turned to her. The woman's hard expression lasted a second longer than it should have before softening as she addressed Kim and gestured to the holographic image.

"You may or may not be aware of the troubling times, Kim. There have been cases of stolen technology in Silicon Valley, inmates broken out of Scotland Yard, Virupaksha temple raids—"

"And burglaries in Zhongguancun," Kim finished, "I know. If they need me they'll call."

Dr. Director's eyebrows raised a fraction as she stared at Kim.

"Oh," Kim said.

"Global Justice has been following the criminal activity of villains the world over for more than thirty years. We've discovered a troubling trend in our reconnaissance and the recent outbreak of felonies."

"Like what?" Kim asked. Dr. Director took a deep, steadying breath.

"There is a war going on, Kim." One of the agents on a computer module below opened several recorded feeds of what Kim determined were undercover spy investigations. An irate police officer stood beside a blown out wall of Scotland Yard and on the ground behind him sat a golf ball. The Virupaksha was a temple dedicated to monkeys in India. And familiar claw marks marred the walls of a secured technology facility. Kim frowned. "Villains all over the world are running amok and wreaking havoc in major cities, with assaults peaking in the last few weeks. Every blinking light you see are cities that have been struck."

Dr. Director pressed a button on the navigation board and four very familiar faces appeared on screen.

"Though our data has yet to be officially confirmed, we believe Dr. Drakken, Duff Killigan, Lord Montgomery Fiske, and Professor Rudolph Demenz are behind each of these offenses."

"All these villains committing crimes at the same time?" Kim mused. "I don't get it, they all seem to be after something totally different."

"We have reason to believe that these criminal acts are separate—but connected."

"How?" Kim asked. Dr. Director studied the faces on the screen with a glazed eye and clasped her hands behind her back.

"Nothing has been confirmed," the director stressed again, "but I have a hunch."

Kim waited. And she had the distinct impression that every agent within earshot was listening on tenterhooks too. When Dr. Director spoke, her voice was low.

"The Worldwide Evil Empire." Kim was certain there wasn't a single keystroke to be heard in the war room.

"But doesn't WEE usually do more…silly crimes?" Kim suggested as tactfully as she could, but Dr. Director's stony expression did not change.

"It's not his usual puerile approach. This is something new, organized and focused. Something dangerous. But I'm almost certain Gemini is pulling the strings—flying under the radar, obscuring his movements. He's trying to get his hands on our projects." Dr. Director came back to herself and glanced about the room. The subtle clack of typing resumed and underscored the tension in the chamber. Kim looked at the images of the annoyed villains and thought of a half dozen reasons they would launch strikes nearly simultaneously, but none of the notions held. She pursed her lips. WEE, huh? It wasn't terribly unlikely the crime syndicate was involved.

Kim filed the information away to ask Wade later.

"What's your plan?" Kim asked.

"If we can contain the villains causing the disturbances, things should settle and return to order." Dr. Director gestured to the agent manning the computer modules and the screens went black.

"And how do we contain the villains?" A subtle hint of uncertainty laced Kim's tone and Dr. Director seemed to pick up on it. She smiled reassuringly at the teenage heroine.

"I assure you, we have the means to apprehend the world's villains in a precisely coordinated and systematic approach. However…"

"Here we go." Kim grimaced. The director's expression confirmed the girl's preemptive declaration.

"The plan has encountered an isolated anomaly. A hiccup if you will."

"And you need my help fixing it." Kim crossed her arms over her chest.

"Not quite. We want you to capture this convicted felon." Dr. Director smartly shuffled through a database and opened an image of a grinning black-haired, green-skinned woman. Kim's arm ached and she clasped it with her opposite hand.

"Shego? What does she have to do with this?"

"Unfortunately, the campaign is top secret but I will go so far as to say her capture is absolutely essential to the success of the plan. We received word from our scouts that Shego was alerted to our arrest operations team and has eluded us since. If you can capture her, signal us and we will collect her as quickly as possible." The woman handed Kim a beacon which the girl turned over in her hands. A single green light winked at her over a glass-encased button. She dropped the gadget in her pocket. Dr. Director began to walk back to the transportation pods. "You may also contact us if there are any…incidents."

"Incidents? Like what?" Kim readjusted her backpack, her shoulder reminding her once again it was not happy with her. Dr. Director punched a code into one of the transporters and the bay doors opened. She gestured for Kim to enter.

"You'll know."

A small frown pressed Kim's lips as she stepped into the tube.

"Remind me why you want Shego again?"

The director glanced over her shoulder and turned to Kim. She placed a hand on the teen's shoulder and spoke softly.

"I know the mission parameters are vague, but I want you to know, Kim, that Shego is the key to saving the world."

Kim's mouth opened as Dr. Director stepped back with a buoyant smile.

"We have the utmost confidence in you, Kim Possible. Good luck."

Kim popped up street-side out of a false manhole a moment later, not far from her house. Her head buzzing and sore arm still tingling a bit, she called Wade as she walked up the street. He answered an instant later.

"What's up, Kim?"

"Wade, can you hack GJ's system and see if Shego pops up anywhere?" she asked.

"Global Justice?" Wade's eyebrows rose. "Their encryptions are top notch. Give me awhile and I'll see what I can drudge up."

"Please and thank you." Kim dropped the transmitter back into her pocket and turned the corner.

She spotted Ron sitting on her front porch with what looked like a takeout bag from Bueno Nacho. A smile tugged at her lips. Ron perked up at her approach, grabbed the food and ran down to meet her.

"Hey Kim, where were you? Your folks said you never came home and I was starting to worry. I brought you some nacos." He handed her the bag and she took it; the bottom was soaking with meat sauce and grease. Apparently, Ron had been waiting awhile.

"Long story." Kim ran a hand through her hair and explained all that had happened to Ron since she'd left school, the global turmoil, GJ's odd mission; she even flashed Ron the beacon they'd issued her. Ron's jaw steadily dropped. He began pacing until Kim reiterated Dr. Director's final statement about Shego and he stopped dead.

"…_WHAT?_" Ron clenched his hair in both hands. Even Rufus popped up from his pocket in surprise.

"Shego?" The mole rat squeaked.

"Shego? Shego, who destroys, steals and fights us every other day—Shego,_ the villain_—save the world? Wha—how—That doesn't even make sense! What is GJ thinking?"

Kim tucked a loose tendril of hair behind one ear as an image of a sneering Shego cropped up in her mind. The woman's brothers appeared around her.

"Maybe it's not so weird. I mean, Shego used to be a good guy," Kim reasoned aloud.

"Yeah well, not anymore! Shego's bad news any way you cut it." Ron and Rufus threw her a skeptical look. "And GJ wants to make her good? What, are they like, paying Shego to take down all the villains of the world? Is that even possible? Villains taking out villains?"

"I don't know what they're planning, but this is GJ we're talking about. If any super-secret spy agency could turn Shego good again, it's them." Kim fished out her Kimmunicator and dialed Wade.

"You're really on board with this then?" Ron said, uncertain. He exchanged glances with an anxious Rufus. "Capturing Shego? Especially after she almost—"

Ron's words caught at Kim's expression and he cleared his throat.

"We'll get to the bottom of this." Determination etched the teen heroine's face as Wade appeared on the Kimmunicator. "Wade, got anything on Shego?"

He shook his head.

"GJ's security is as tight as ever."

"So you couldn't get in?" Kim asked as Ron peered over her shoulder.

"I didn't say that. I hacked the encryptions just fine, but their information is gone. Total system blackout. The top secret folders can be opened but most of the raw data files are obscured or digitally scrambled. I did a lot of digging and only found one item with Shego's name mentioned once under something called 'The Elite Project.'"

"'The Elite Project?'" Kim's brow knit while behind her Ron mumbled something about GJ and the folly of trusting villains. "GJ and Shego. What _are_ they planning?"

Wade shrugged, put off by the shut out.

"You got me. Look." Wade pressed a key and her Kimmunicator screen mirrored his. A boldfaced _The Elite Project_ banner sat over a blackened-out document with only a few sparse visible headers like "mission parameters," "concept of employment," "logistic capabilities," and "SHEGO" littered on the page.

"This is some heavy stuff." Ron mumbled.

The three stood silent for a moment. Kim recovered first.

"Where is Shego now?"

The boy genius sipped a soda and typed with his free hand.

"A police report was just filed in California of a robbery from a technology lab in Silicon Valley that has Shego's signature all over it."

"What was stolen?"

"The lab classified it as a 'molecular analyzer.'"

"Thanks for the tip, Wade. Keep me posted." Kim turned off the Kimmunicator and motioned Ron to follow her. "Time to pay Drakken a visit."

* * *

**Author's Note: EEE! I didn't mean to take this long posting this chapter. I apologize dear readers. Life happens and it happens hard sometimes. But hey, at least this update is shorter than several years later. I'm hoping to update a little more regularly in the future, time allowing. Once a month? I'll shoot for it.**

**I'd like to thank imitateslife again for her help with this chapter-she's saved me a lot of future headache I might have run into otherwise. God is in the details they say. Thank you for the read-over and comments, my dear beta! This chapter is where it should be.**

**Shego dislocated Kim's shoulder, whoa! And what the heck is WEE planning? Or GJ for that matter? This chapter may not be quite as punchy as the third, but it does lay some important groundwork and I hope it still whets the appetite for what is to come. Which is a lot. A LOT, a lot. You buckled in yet?**

**As always, I hope you all have enjoyed and will please leave a review!**

**Blackfire 18**


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